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Parkland marks 125 years of providing ‘TLC’ for mothers, infants

Generations of women, babies cared for at one of nation’s busiest birthing centers

May 29, 2019

Known worldwide for expertise in trauma and burn care, Parkland Memorial Hospital is also one of the nation’s busiest obstetrical centers. Last year, on average, 34 babies were born every 24 hours at Dallas County’s state-of-the-art public hospital – that’s one out of every 250 babies born in the U.S. During fiscal year 2018, Parkland tallied a total of 12,583 deliveries, 1,466 neonatal inpatient discharges, 11,139 newborn nursery discharges and 240,481 women’s clinic visits. Parkland’s smallest patients used more than 445,000 diapers.

“It’s like bringing two new kindergarten classes into the world daily or a whole new 1,000-student elementary school every month,” said Marjorie Quint-Bouzid, MPA, RN, NEA- BC, Vice President of Nursing for Women and Infants Specialty Health (WISH) services. “But the miracle of birth never gets old, even for staff who have worked here their entire careers.”

Providing quality and compassionate medical care to this remarkable number of moms and babies requires a small army of highly skilled staff specializing in women’s health and the care of healthy, premature and medically-challenged newborns. Currently, Parkland’s Labor and Delivery (L&D) and neonatology units are served by:

“Our team strives every day to ensure the wellbeing of each woman and infant entrusted to us,” said Steven Bloom, MD, Chief of Obstetrics & Gynecology Services at Parkland and UT Southwestern Medical Center. “Approximately 1 in 3 deliveries in Dallas County occurs at Parkland, and many of our patients have significant health challenges that require clinical expertise that can only be found in a major academic medical center like Parkland.”

The high-tech L&D and NICU services at the new Parkland hospital are a far cry from the crowded maternity wards and rows of bassinets at the original 1894-vintage Parkland. No one knows the exact number of babies born at the hospital in the early years, but by 2001 Parkland had set a national record, delivering 16,597 babies – more than any other hospital in the U.S.

Bobbie Redmon, RN, who began her career at Parkland as a nursing school graduate in 1961 working the L&D night shift, recalled that the hospital didn’t have air conditioning in those days. “Summers were hot as the devil on the floors,” she said. “We just opened all the windows hoping for a breeze.”

Retired since 2000, Redmon spent her 39-year nursing career in Parkland’s L&D unit. “Everyone was family to us,” she said, referring to both staff and patients. “It was a pleasure to serve people who really appreciated the care they received. We had such a large volume but our quality statistics were always outstanding. We could handle any situation. Everybody helped each other and we made sure that each patient got great care.”

Among the highlights of Parkland’s 125 years of caring for mothers and infants:

1894 – Parkland Hospital opened at the corner of Oak Lawn and Maple avenues1937 – Parkland had 338 beds and 36 bassinets1947 – The Parkland Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program was approved1954 – In its first year, the new Parkland (at 5201 Harry Hines) delivered more than 4,000 babies 1968 – Parkland opened its first “premature nursery”1971 – First high-risk maternity unit in the U.S. was established at Parkland1973 – Parkland opened the first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Dallas1982 – NICU was enlarged to 85 bassinets1987 – Nurse Midwife Program began at Parkland and in its first year tallied more than 2,200 deliveries by Certified Nurse Midwives 1999 – Parkland began administering universal infant hearing tests2001 – Delivered 16,597 babies – nation’s largest birthing center within a general hospital 2014 – The Clark quintuplets (three girls and two boys), Parkland’s third set of quints, was delivered. The Davis quintuplets (4 girls, 1 boy) were born at Parkland in June 1975 and the Zuniga quints (4 boys, 1 girl) were born in July 1998 2014 – Parkland began screening all women for postpartum depression, Sept. 25, 1954 – Aug. 20, 2015 – The last baby was born at the old Parkland facility, totaling 656,061 deliveries during its 61-year history2015 – A 7-pound, 8 ounce baby boy was the first child born at the new Parkland Memorial Hospital that opened on Aug. 20, 20152018 – Williams Obstetrics, 25th edition published – the leading text for OB/GYN physicians, written by an author team practicing at Parkland’s world-renowned OB/GYN department